Doorcheck and closer



Aug. 9, 193.2. E. BOMMER 1,871,030

DOORCHECK AND CLOSER Filed Jan. 11, 1952 Patented Aug. 9, 1932 arse sitar rsvteso nooncrrncr; inn cnosEn Application filed. January 11, 1932f Serial No. 585,831. a

My present invention relates to door-checks and closers, the invention being more particularly related to a piston carried device for relieving-the fluid pressure or resistance to the closing movement of the door.

The invention is usefully employed, for example, in connection with a door check and closer of the general construction illustrated in the accompanying drawing, al

though it will be recognized that other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed instead of the particular construction in connection with which the invention is herein illustrated and explained.

In automatically acting door-closing and checking mechanisms, it is well-known that during the closing movement of the door the force of the door-closing spring is opposed by checking medium consisting of oil or air which is forced through a restricted passageway controlled by a suitable regulating valve, and that during the opening movement of the door a freely openable one-way valve is provided for the relief'of the checking niedium against the door-opening movement of the piston as the door-closing spring is ten; sioned. The arrangement provides for a gradual relatively slow closing movement of the door and for a relatively quick opening movement thereof. a Frequently and without any necessity for such action, the attempt is made to hasten the automatic closing movement of the door by thrusting or forcing it, and occasionally there will arise a real necessity for closing the door quickly and much more rapidly than is permitted by the normal relief provided'for the checking medium. Quick closing thrusts and forced closings subject the mechanisms of the door check and closer to severe strains and shocks, and theparts of the-mechanisms are sometimes disarranged, damaged, and broken.

The purpose and bjectof'the present invention are to provide simple, practical and efiicient means whereby to permit quick closing of the door and to attain this end without subjecting the mechanisms and parts of the door closer and check to undue strain, likelihood of. damage and breakage. A further object in this connection is to attain these results without in any way interfering with the normal functioning of the mechanisms either in the opening or closing movements of the door. 1 More particularly, the invention consists in the provision of 'a yieldable connectionbetween the piston and itsconnecting bar, and in the provision of a yiel-dable relief device in the piston arranged in'suchmanner that when the piston yields under abnormal strain due to forced closing of the door, the relief device will be positively operated by the connecting bar to open a port'for the relief of the fluid pressure inthe chamber at the front side of the piston." The port commanded by the relief device is arranged to provide. an

outlet leading directly from the chamber at the front side of the piston to the chamber at the rear-side thereof. Under my 'improve- "merit, whenever the closing of the door is sharply hastened, that is to say, Whenever there isexerted upon the doora closing force in excess of the normal closing force of the I expansion spring means, the reliefv device is posltively operated for instantly relleving the pressure fluid which can flow by the shortest path from the front side of the piston to the rear side thereof. 7

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel relief device of the character described, wh ch will be simple in construction and economical in manufacture, while possessing the advantages of being sturdy and positive and providing for compactness.

7 With the foregoing and other objects in view, the-invention consists in the construction and relative arrangement of parts so combined as to coact and cooperate with each other in the performance of the functions and the accomplishment of the results herein contemplated, and comprises in its evolvement the simple'and practical example illustrated in the accompanying "drawing, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure lrepresents a longitudinal sectional view through a door check and closer embody- 10o view, taken on the line 55 ofFig; 1, and

showing the piston and associated parts, in

the relative positions which they occupy when the relief valveis openedfor the relief =of1the pressure fluids i The .doorcloser andecheck. selected for disclosing the purpose, utility and advantages of the present invention is of the type which is placed in a. recess. or cavity in the floor and which ineludesavertical. hinge rpintle for the swinging supportof the door) e'llhe. illustratedtype is capable of use with a single-action door,.a double action'door, a right-hand door,

andaIeft-lhan-ddoor. 1 r 7 By referring to the drawing, it. will .be seen that the selected door, closer and. check comprises a fluid-tight casingconsisting of a rearipartuld ofa. ffornisuitableffor lac- .commodating the camrmechanisnr associated with: the ,verticallpintle and a front cylindrical. part .11. adapted \to'. accommodate the pistonhand door-closing spring means- :.The

; cylindrical part-ll is screw-threadediat 12 to provided .on the rearpartlO.

an annular flange 13,

14 designates. .the vertical (icon-supporting pintle which. is mounted. for rotation in suit:-

' ablezupper and lower bearings '15 and: ldprovided in the rear casing ipartlO'. Arranged to reciprocate rearwardly andwforwardly upon the vertical i pintle iis a yoke-like connecter frame designated-generally by the I reference character. i7 andcconsisting of spaced. upper andlower plates 18 and 19 in which. are :provided tsimilar. lengthwise extending.v slots 20 for .the accommodation of the vertical pintle. At their front ends'the upperand lower plates l8-and 19 are shaped and. united'to form a; connecting ba1 21 which ezttends .well. into the cylindrical part 11 and axially thereof. F ixed to the vertical pintle '14 to rotatetherewith are cam devices 22 and23 which act on snitable'iollersprovided on the connecter frame, there beinga roller 24' operatively mounted over the. plate 18 for cooperating with' the cam 22', while suitable rollers 25 are operatively mounted between the plates 18 and -19 at the "tear thereof: for 'cooperating'fwith" the cam 23. This pintle: and cam mechanism is such that the pintle may be rotated eitherxclockwise or counterclockwise through a full circle of 360," thereby accommodating the mechanism for use in connection with either single-acting doors, double-acting doors, left-hand doors or right-hand doors. This pintle and cam mechanism is more fully illustrated and described in my copending application, Serial No. 444,971, filed April 17, 1930, and also in my copending application Serial No. 585,832 filed J an. 11, 1932, the last-mentioned application being a division of the application first mentioned.

L steamy 1 fitting within the cylindrical part 11 is a piston 26 which is connected by a' coupling 'pin 27 with the front end or terminal 28 of the connecting rod 21. A suit-.

able helical door-closing spring 29 is imprisoned-between the rear face ofthe piston 26 and an annular flange or abutment30 provided inside the casing p-art 10 for such pnrpose; The chamber. 31 in frontof the' piston 26 is in communication with the chamber '32 at the rear thereof through a restricted" by-pass or passageway-33 which is provided in a thickenedwallportion 34 of the cylindrical part. Formed in connection with the thickened wa-llportion 34-is a vertical cylindricalextension 35- which contains a vertically disposed regulating valve 36. By means ofthis valve,which-isthreadedly engaged for'adjustment andwhose lower end portion 37- is' designed tooperate inthe restricted passageway--33, the amount of liq uid moving under pressure from the chamber :31 to the chamber 32'can be readily' regulated from the exterior ofthe casing;

The-operation of adoor-check and closer of this type iswellknown. During the opening movement of the door, when the piston is drawn-rearwardly and thespring 293mm.- pressed one or more ball valves 38 provided "eccentrically in the piston are automatically opened by the fluid: pressure 'in the chamber 32 soithat the fluid can freely escape from: the "chamber 32 into the chamber '31. When i the opened door has been released, it is automatically closed by the force :of the door closingspring 29, the forward movement of the piston being o'pposedby the checking medium contained-in the chamber- 31 which is gradually forced through the restricted passageway 33to' the chamber at the rear of the piston. This arrangement-,asis' wellknown, provides for a'gradual. relatively slow -closing movement ofthe door,- and whenever the attempt is made to close the door more rapidly than is permitted by the normal reliefof the checking medium through the restricted passageway 33,. severe strains result-which are likely to injure and 'damage the parts 0f the mechanism and as well to impair the hinge connections of the door.

. i In vcarrying out my invention for providing instant and adequate relief for the checking medium in the event it is attempted to close the door too rapidly, the piston is provided with a cavity 39 .whichwextends'in- -Wardly thereinto from the rear face thereof so as to leave a relativelythin head portion 40 between the front chamber 31 and the said of the piston there is provided in the head 40 a port 42 which providesdirectcommuni cation between the front chamber 31 and the cavity 39 which is in open communication with the rear chamber 32. Mounted for relative movement in the port 42 is a relief device comprising a stem .43 at the front end of which is formed a conical valve 44 adapt-- ed to fit in a correspondingly shaped seat 45 provided in the front face of the piston around the port 42. At its rear end, the

stem 43 is provided with a contact piece 46 shaped to engage the opposing terminal 28 of the connecting bar. This relief device is carried by the piston and is movable relatively thereto, so that when the piston is forced rearwardly with respect to the con necting bar, owing to the provision of the lost-motion slot 41, the contact piece 46 will engage the terminal 28 of the bar with the result that when the piston has moved rearwardly to the full extent permitted by the slot 41, the valve 44 will be displaced from its seat, thereby opening direct communication between-the front chamber 31 and the cavity 39, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. It will be evident that the fluid pressure in the chamber 31 will at all times keep the relief device in that position in which the valve 44 is closed against its seat 45, except when through the relative rearward movement of the piston the contact piece 46 of the relief device has been engaged with the connecting bar terminal 28, in which operation the piston moves along the relief device to the full extent permitted by the lost-motion slot 41. It will also be evident that the rearward movement of the piston will be effected by an accumulation of excessive fluid pressure in the chamber 31.

Compared with the extent of the stroke of the connecting bar, the lost-motion movement of the piston is very little and in order to insure that the relief device will close the relief port at all times during the existence of normal pressure in the chamber 31, I provide an auxiliary compression spring 47 which is coiled about the connecting bar in side the compass of the door-closing spring 29, which auxiliary spring is imprisoned between the rear face of the piston 26 and an abutment or stop 48 secured to the connecting bar.v This auxiliary spring serves. as an effectual means for positively. maintaining the piston in the position in which the'relief port is positively closed by the relief device and will remain closed until the closing force 41 exerted on the door exceeds the force'of the door-closing spring and the resistance of the, V

auxiliary spring when the excessive pressure in the chamber will cause relativeyielding of the piston and consequent opening of'the relief port because of the engagement of the contact piece 46 with the terminal of thecon necting rod. When the relief device is unseated, instant and adequate relief forthe excessive pressure is provided, since an increased area 1s opened for the escapeof the fluid under pressure and since the parts are arranged so that the port constitutes an extremely short reliefpath for the escape of fluid pressure from the front side of the piston. Every time, therefore, the attempt is made to close the door more rapidly than is permitted by the normal relief provided for the fluid pressure, the piston .will yield relatively with respect to the connecting bar for instantly opening the relief port to "relieve the accumulation of excessive pressure. With the device of the present invention, therefore, a forced closing of the door may be had; and such forced'closing whether efi l fected by successive thrusts or by constantly accelerated closing movement, will not result in any injurious strains to the mechanisms and parts of the door checkand closer.

It will beobvious that therelief port of my present invention is capable of embodiment in many different types of door checks and closers, or environments, in which it may desirable to instantly and adequately relieve an accumulationof excessive pressure.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in considerable detail, it is realized that in practice various changes and alterations may be made therein, and further thatthe invention is capable ofembodiment in many different constructions. It has been sought herein to illustrate only suchan em- 7 bodiment as Will suffice to exhibit the character of the invention. Reservation is, therestruction or otherwise alteringthe' arrangement ofthe parts without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention or the ed by a pintrec eived in al'ost-motionslot to fore, madeto the right and privilege of 1 changing the form of the details, of conpermit relative movement of the piston with respect to the bar, and a normally closed relief device for. fluid pressure, 'slidably dis posed in the piston in position to be engaged by the end of said bar andto beopene d there- :by upon: the 'i-relative; movement :of the piston fwith r'espect'to-thebar'. V I 2; In adoor checkzandcloser a cylinder,1a piston and connecting-bar therein connected to' permit relative 'movement of the piston with'respectto'the bar,la=normally closed relief' device for fluid pressure, disposed on the piston inlposition to be engaged and opened by the bar-upon the relative movement of the piston with respect-thereto, and resilient meansyieldable. underan accumulation of ex.- cessive. fluid=pressure resisting. the relative movement of thepiston.

- In a doorclieck andcloser, thecombination of a cylinder, a spring-urged piston; a

connecting bar connected to :the piston to permitrelative "movement ofthe pistonv with respectzto the ban-resilient means-between'the bar. .andpiston. resisting-c-relative' move- .Esaidrpistonincl-uding arlost-motion slotin' one of therparts andza 'pi-ninthe other part en.-

, gaging the slot; :a freelymovabl-e relief device normally: seated in the :port and constructed .for engagingithe contact end of: said "bar; the pin! and islot-iconnection' between (the bar and-piston permitting movement of the pistonrrelatively: with Erespectto. the baroand providing for :the engagement i of the :relief openrthe port. I

.matically tounseat the relief device and thus 7 In combination with 'a vipiston and a nectlngbar to one end Of-,WhiClI the :piston is to the bar and longitudinally thereof, aseat in the opposite side; of the piston and a-port leading from the same to a point-a-dj acefnt said bar; a valve displaceably fitting said seat and attached for relative movement with respect device :with said: 3 contact. end whereby auto- 7 having stem extendingthrough said. port for 18 engaging with said bar, the relative longitudinal movement ofithe piston with respect to the bar providing :for the engagement of the valve: stem: with the .barrwherebyto displace the valve; from its seat. 1

2 In testimony that I claim the foregoing-as 7 ned my name hereto.

MIL:,.BOMMER. k

my invention,- I: have si .4. In a' door checkand closer, the combinationwith a cylinder, a'connecting member and 1:

piston adapted-to move against the pressure of checking fluid inithe cylinder a lost-m0- tion connection between the oonnectingmemb-er and piston to'allow relative movement of v:' the latter withrespecttozthe fornier, -a mov able. reliefvalve carried the 'pistonnormall-v closing a portthereinin response. to the r'z':

pressure of checking fluid,' said valve. being adapted, on the relative movement of the pis- .ton;to be engagedsby the connecting member and forced open-thereby, and means for resist-.

'ing relative movement .of the piston. until the 5 pressure of the checking'fiuid risesrto an excessive-degree.

. 5; In'a door checkandcloser sthecombination :with a piston provided with-a head for moving in opposition to checking fluid, of an r operating member for the piston connected i thereto bva lost-motion connection and having'a terminal portion adjacent said head; a

freely movablevalve normally closing airelief port in said headand constructed forengagementwith said terminal portiomthe piston by c reason of its lost-motion connection being adapted to move relatively with respect to said member and in a direction to cause the :f engagement of said valve with sjaid terminal portion, whereby'automaticallv to unseat said valve and thereby op-en said port for the relief of the checking fluid.

I 6. In adoor check and .clo'ser,.a cylinder,.a piston therein having aheadwith a port, a

connecting bar having a contactend adjacent said port, means connecting sa1dbar -w1th 

